I’ve been getting into the music of Townes Van Zandt for a while now. I quickly began to look at him as the Warren Zevon of country. The two had a lot in common –
– Both men died in their 50s, way too young.
– Both had serious problems with alcohol and other drugs.
– Both were highly regarded, if not venerated, as songwriters by their peers.
– Both had limited commercial success and were not very good on the business side of things.
– Both spent an enormous amount of time on the road.
– Both left a trail of broken relationships in their wake.
– Both could be deadly serious or wickedly funny.
– Both wrote songs of beauty, depth and power that for me and many others, are unforgettable.
TVZ admired Vincent Van Gogh; it’s hard to imagine two artists more committed to their work. TMZ was a sensitive man. He cared about the women he had relationships with, his children (there were four), his friends, the poor and homeless, nature, and many other things. He was devoted to his parents and maintained decent relationships with his siblings despite being constantly on the road, drunk most of the time, and prone to extremely erratic and self-destructive behavior explained at least in part by what was probably a bipolar disorder and depression.
But above all TMZ lived for his music, and nobody wrote music that was more heartfelt and sincere. Never a false note, never a false word. He didn’t care about money; he just wanted to touch people with his songs. And man, did he embody his songs. Most of his songs are sad and sometimes desperate, poetic, and often understatedly profound. He was his music, his music truly was the song made flesh.
Here are a couple examples. TVZ lived for a while on some acreage in Franklin, TN, near Nashville. It was on the site of one of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War. As TVC sat near a river near the battlefield, he imagined a dying Confederate soldier on the ground. This is the song that came about … Flyin’ Shoes.
What a beautiful song. Thematically it’s is pretty typical. This next one, No Deal, when he was younger and not quite so ground down by his rough life, shows his sense of humor.
And finally his most well-known song, Pancho and Lefty, from back when TVZ was a young man.
